High speed loom



April 18, 1961 H. T. ONEILL 2,980,146

HIGH SPEED 1.00M

Filed p il 5, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 llllllllllllllllllll INVENTOR .hQl/P/P TOIVE/LL a zflmgm 4 y ATTO R N EYS.

April 18, 1961 H. T. ONEILL HIGH SPEED LOOM Filed April 3, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVIgNTOR fiA/P/PY T 0 A/E/LL BY Q 7 ATTORNEYS.

HIGH SPEED LOOM 7 Harry T. ONeill, New Bedford,

Continental Elastic Corporation, Delaware Filed Apr. 3, 1958, Ser. No. 726,084 a 8 Claims. (Cl. 139-124) 7 Mass, assignor to The a corporation of This invention relates to the art of looms and more particularly to a shuttleless loom for weaving narrow fabrics or webs.

.As conducive to an understanding of the invention, it is noted that where in looms of the abovetype such as is shown in Patent No. 2,180,831, dated November 21, 1939, a knitting needle is provided on one side of the shed and the weft or filling is. inserted into the; shed by a filling needle which enters the shed from one'side and carries a Weft thread that is engaged by the knitting needle so that a knitted selvage is formed on one edge of the web with the weft thread filling the shed, where the filling needle and the knitting needle come into contact and the knitting needle is stressed or bent with each stroke of the filling needle, the knitting needle is likely to break down rapidly with resultant frequent need for replacement, and this is especially true where the loom is operated at relatively high speed.

It is accordingly among the objects of the invention to provide a loom of the above type having a filling needle and a knitting needle and that will form a web with a knitted selvage at least on one edge, without engagement of the filling and knitting needles, thereby eliminating undue stress of the knitting needle and permitting high speed operation of the loom without likelihood of breakdown due to failure of the knitting needle.

According to the invention the filling needle has a bifurcated end defining a pair of parallel vertically aligned legs, each lying in a horizontal plane. The uppermost leg at its free end has an eye through which' the filling thread extends and the lowermost leg is also bifurcated defining a long and a short finger.

The filling needle is slidably mounted in a horizontal plane in an upright support that is free to pivot about its axis and the needle is reciprocated in manner also to cause the support to pivot about its axis and the support is positioned on one side of the web to be formed, with the filling needle adapted to be movedthrou-gh the shed, formed in the web in conventional manner.

Mounted on the support is a thread deflector which has a portion thereof extending substantially parallel to the needle in a plane slightly above that of the latter and on the side thereof associated with the longer finger of the bifurcated leg. The deflectorat the end of such parallel portion is downwardly inclined and then extends laterally beneath and across the needle, past the other side thereof.

The filling needle is designed to coact with a knitting needle extending parallel to the Web on the other side thereof in such manner that a portion of the filling thread spanning vertically betweenthe ends of the filling needle will be engaged by the hook end of the knitting needle when the latter is straddled by the legs of the filling needle, so that thereafter the knitted selvage may be formed in conventional manner. 1

Upon the return stroke of the filling needle, the dethe parallel legs of the filling needle for the next cycle. In the accompanying drawings in'which are shown one or more of the various possible embodiments of the several features of the invention,

Fig. -1 is a partial side elevational view of the loom,

Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are top plan views showing the filling needle in various operative positions,

Figs. 5 and 6 are top plan views on an enlarged scale showing the filling needle coacting with the knitting needle,

Fig. 7 is. a view similar to Fig. 5 showing the .knitting needle aftera loop has been formed,

Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view showing the filling needle coacting with the knitting needle, and

Fig. 9 is a-detail perspective view of the filling needle mount and deflector. r

Referring now to the drawings, the loom which is designed for weaving narrow fabrics or webs is similar in many respects to the loom shown in said Patent No. 2,180,831 and hence will be described only sufliciently for a clear understandingof the invention. Thus, the

loom comprises take-up rollers (not shown) which draw the finished web 12 that is formed from warp threads 13 fed from suitable supply rolls (not shown) through the eyes of conventional heddle plates 14 to form a shed is. r I

Positioned laterally of the web 12 is a disc 16 mounted on a vertical'shaft 17 rising from the bed 20 of the loom and driven in any suitable manner so as to rotate in a clockwise direction. Rising from disc 16 adjacent its periphery and rotatably mounted thereon is a rod 18 which carries a block 19 at its upper end that has a transverse bore therethrough.

I Positioned in said bore and secured therein-as by set screws 21 is one end of a weft filling needle 22 which is slidably positioned in the transverse bore of a block 23 mounted on the upper end of an upstanding rod 24 rotatably mounted on the bed 20 on the same side of the web as the shaft 17.

Cooperating with the-filling needle 22 is a knitting needle 28 which extends parallel to the web on the side thereof remote from disc 16. The needle 28 which is carried in a reciprocable carriage block 29, is of conventional type having a hook 31 atone end and a pivoted latch bar 32 adjacent said hook end.

v A rigid wire 34 (Fig. 6) that serves as a guide for the other edge of the web 112 extends parallel to the warp thread that defines such edge. A reed 35 is provided forbeating up the filling toward the fell of the shed in conventional manner.

The equipment thus far described is not per se new, being substantially shown and described in said Patent No. 2,180,831.

According to the invention, the filling needle 22 has its free end bifurcated as shown in Fig.8 to define a pair of parallel legs 36 and 37, the end of the uppermost leg 36 having a thread opening or eye 38 therethrough. The lowermost leg 37 is also bifurcated defining a long and a short finger 41, 42, the space 43 therebetween being directly beneath the opening 38.

The block 23 mounts a deflector or throw over member 45 which extends laterally therefrom adjacent the end of the transverse bore, through which the needle 22 extends. The deflector member has a portion 46 extending substantially parallel to the needle 22 in a plane slightly above that of the latter and on the side thereof flector will position a lengthofthread to span across associated with the longer finger 41 of the bifurcated leg 36; The deflector at the end of such parallel portion is downwardly inclined as at 47 and then extends laterally beneath and across the needle as at 48 past the other side thereof.

More particularly in the illustrative embodiment shown, the deflector member is a length of reversely bent stiff wire having both of its ends secured to the block 23. 7

Associated with the disc 16 is a thread guide 51 which comprises a bracket having a horizontal leg 52 with an opening 53 at one end through which the filler thread F extends from a suitable supply roll (not shown).

In the operation of the loom, the filling thread is laid in the shed by the action of the needle 22.

Referring to Fig. 8, where a portion of thread F passes through the opening 38 of the leg 36 of the needle 22 and is positioned in the space 43 between the fingers 41, 42 spanning between said fingers, as the disc 16 is rotated in a clockwise direction from the position shown in Fig. 2, the outer end of the needle 22 will follow the path shown by the small arrows representing opening 38, Le, the end of the needle will move in a counterclockwise direction toward the hook end 31 of the knitting needle 28 and also will be retracted.

As the legs 36, 37 of the retracting filling needle 22 pass over the hook end 31 of the knitting needle and straddle the latter (Figs. and 8), the span of thread between the legs of the filling needle will be engaged by the end of the knitting needle 28 between the hook end 31 thereof and the open latch 32.

The knitting needle 28 is then retracted from the position shown in Fig. 6 to the position shown in Fig. 7, by movement of its carrier 29, to cast off the previous loop A of filling which has previously moved below the latch. Thus, such loop, as the open latch 32 moves therethrough, closes the latch 32 so that the loop will pass over the portion of thread engaged by the hook so that such portion will also form a loop.

As the disc 16 rotates further in a clockwise direction, say to the position shown in Fig. 3, the filling needle 22 will be completely withdrawn from the shed adjacent the fell thereof and at this time the heddles 14 are actuated in conventional manner to change the shed and the reeds 35 are moved forwardly through the shed to beat up the filling as shown in Figs. 3 and 7.

With the disc in the position shown in Fig. 3, the thread will extend from the thread guide 51 through opening 38 in the upper leg 36 of the filling needle 22 then beneath the deflector 45 at the outer end 47 thereof to the web 12 as at C. The outer end of the needle 22 will also be substantially retracted as shown so that the deflector extends beyond such end.

With further rotation of the disc, say to the position shown in (Fig. 4, the needle 22 will again start to extend and as the portion of the thread extending beneath the deflector member is aligned with the space 43 between the lower fingers 41, 42 ('Fig. 9) it will be picked up by the long finger 41 so that as the needle is further extended with continued rotation of the disc 16, there will be the desired span of thread between the upper and lower fingers 36, 37 for the next knitting cycle.

As the filling needle 22 starts to extend, the reeds will be retracted as shown in Fig. 4 so that the filling needle will be free to again move through the shed.

When the filling needle 22 again moves through the shed toward the hook end 31 of the knitting needle 28, the latter will again be extended as previously described.

As this occurs, the knitting needle will slide through the loop previously formed which is engaged by the hook and this will cause the latch 32 to open (-Fig. 5) and as the knitting needle 23 extends further, the loop will completely pass over the latch 32 and the hook end 31 of the needle is free to receive the span carried by the filling needle. Thereafter the cycle repeats.

As the heddles 14 are reciprocated with each cycle, the web will be Woven in conventional manner, the action of the filling needle 22 and the knitting needle 28 providing a knitted selvage at one edge and a loop at the other edge as shown in Fig. 7, the edge wire 34 supporting such other edge as the filling thread F is passed around the associated warp thread 13.

The movement of the filling needle, knitting needle, reeds and heddle plates are properly correlated in conventional manner to avoid interference. Thus, the filling needle 22 enters the shed 15 at the rear, moves forward therein and moves out at the forward end and the knitting needle 28 is moved forwardly to be engaged by the span of thread carried by the filling needle 22 when the latter has passed through the shed and is moving outwardly therefrom.

With the construction above described, it is apparent that the filling needle 22 never engages the knitting needle 28, but only the span of thread carried by the filling needle 22 engages said needle 28. As a result, no undue stress due to bending of the knitting needle is imparted thereto and the loom may operate at high speeds without need for frequent stoppage due to breakdown of said knitting needle.

As many changes could be made in the above equipment and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a loom, having shed forming means, a filling needle slidably and pivotally mounted on one side of the shed, means on the end of said needle slidably to mount a vertical span of thread, a knitting needle on the other side of the shed, said needle having a hook end, means for swinging said filling needle about its pivotal mount so that the end of said filling needle enters the wide end of the shed and is projected therethrough to the opposite side thereof and is retracted in a path adjacent the fell of the shed and is advanced along the side of the shed on which the filling needle is mounted to a point adjacent the wide end of the shed, said path being such that the vertical span of thread carried by said filling needle will. be engaged by the hook end of the knitting needle, said hooked needle being reciprocably mounted to knit loops in the thread.

2. In a loom, shed forming means, a filling needle, a mount slidably and pivotally supporting said filling needle on one side of the shed, said needle having a bifurcated end defining a pair of vertically aligned legs, the free end of the upper leg having an opening for filling thread and the free end of the lower leg being bifurcated to define a pair of fingers lying in the same plane and defining a space beneath said opening, means to position the thread extending through said opening between the fingers of said lower leg to form a vertical span of thread between said legs, a knitting needle on the other side of the shed, said needle having a hook end, means for swinging said filling needle about its pivotal mount so that the end of the filling needle enters the wide end of the shed and is projected therethrough to the opposite side thereofand is retracted in a path adjacent the fell of the shed and is advanced along the side of the shed on which the filling needle is mounted to a point adjacent the wide end of the shed, said path being such that the vertically aligned legs of the filling needle will straddle the hook end of the knitting needle so that said hook will engage the span of thread between said fingers, said hooked needle being reciprocably mounted to knit loops in said thread.

3. The combination set forth in claim 2 in which a reed is provided movable toward the fell of the shed after the filling needle has been withdrawn therefrom to beat the thread carried by the filling needle toward such fell.

4. The combination set forth in claim 2 in which means are provided to reciprocate said filling needle in said mount and to pivot said mount and the needle carried thereby, a thread guide is mounted on the same side of the shed as the filling needle, the thread extending through said thread guide and the opening in the free end of the upper leg of the needle, and said thread positioning means has a portion adapted to deflect the portion of the thread between the needle and the thread guide into alignment with the space between the fingers of said lower leg when the needle is substantially completely retracted in its mount.

5. The combination set forth in claim 2 in which said mount has a transverse bore through whichthe filling needle extends, the thread positioning means is carried by said mount and has a portion extending outwardly from the side of the mount through which the bifurcated end of the filling needle extends, substantially parallel to the filling needle and along one side of the needle, said portion at its outer end being downwardly inclined and extending laterally beneath and across the filling needle past the other side of the needle and a portion extending back toward the mount, means are provided to reciprocate said needle in said mount and to pivot said mount and the needle carried thereby, a thread guide is mounted on the same side of the shed as the filling needle, the thread extending through said thread guide and the opening in the free end of the upper leg of the needle, said thread positioning means being capable of deflecting the portion of the thread between the filling needle and the thread guide into alignment with the space between the fingers of said lower leg when the needle is substantially completely retracted in its mount. v

6. As an article of manufacture, a filling needle having an elongated shaft bifurcated at its free end to define a pair of parallel legs, one of the legs having a thread opening at its free end, the other leg being bifurcated to define a pair of fingers lying in the same plane and defining a space therebetween aligned with the thread opening.

7. The combination set forth in claim 6 in which one of said fingers is longer than the other and extends beyond the free end of the leg having the thread opening.

8. In a loom, shed forming means, a filling needle, means mounting said filling needle on one side of the shed for movement of said filling needle back and forth through said shed, said needle having a bifurcated end defining a pair of parallel aligned legs, the free end of one of the legs having an opening defining a guide eye for filling thread, and the free end of the other leg being bifurcated to define a pair of fingers lying in the same plane and. defining a space aligned with said opening, means when said bifurcated end of the filling needle is on said one side of the shed to position the thread extending through said opening, between the fingers of said other leg, to form a span of thread between said legs, a knitting needle on the other side of the shed, said needle having a hooked end, the movement of the filling needle through the shed being in a path such that the aligned legs of the filling needle will straddle the hooked end of the knitting needle for engagement by said hook of the span of thread between said legs, said knitting needle being reciprocably mounted to knit loops in the thread in av plane substantially at right angles to the path of movement of the knitting needle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

